1. Identifying
innovation and technological readiness is where I chose to start this week’s
blog. I found this of particular
importance for several multi-tiered reasons.
As educators we need to identify where we stand with regard to
technology in order to find our weaknesses.
It is only after we find and acknowledge our shortcomings that we can
address and work to improve them. It is
very important to identify the capabilities of your students. Pushing technology that is over the heads of
your students is detrimental to their confidence and their overall education
experience. The flip side is that if they aren't challenged then they may lose interest and become complacent. I remember a colleague of
mine once stated that staying on the cutting edge can sometimes leave you
bloody.
2. The
second topic that is often overlooked is barriers to technology. Not every school has the funding needed to
fully implement technology into the curriculum.
The classes that have the resources available are utilizing them and
those that do not can’t. I moved to Florida
a year ago from Oregon. My children had
very limited computer time due to the amount of computers available. As a result they did not utilize technology much at all. Flash forward to their current classroom
environment and the situation is similar in that there are not computers in
each classroom; however, they have work to do from home online. My kids are thriving in this
environment. For those students that do
not have access to a computer at home the teacher provides a printout of the
assignment for them to complete. I also
believe that they have had anonymous donors provide computers to those in
need.
3. Third
is the section on Methods for Teaching with Technology, Your Teaching
Philosophy. I personally feel that the
student centered method is the approach that best suits me. From a student’s perspective the classrooms
that involved the students in the teaching process were by far the most
effective. If you can express what you
have learned to your peers in such a way that they understand it then you have
committed that knowledge to memory. I
have witnessed this in my kid’s classrooms.
The teachers do not just stand at the board and work from the book in
front of the class, they challenge the kids to think about it and work through
it with them. The class is far more
engaged than the classrooms from my youth.
Much more energy and enthusiasm in the classroom.
Resources
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin,
R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New
Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Your observations regarding the availability of technology are right on target and the discrepancies do need to be addressed - at a variety of levels. With the major impact that technology has in our current world, schools really can't ignore the need but with the expense, can they really be expected to shoulder the costs? Fortunately, parents, communities, and even governments and private donors have played a more participatory role in recent years. It will be interesting to see if/when the digital divide's gap closes.
ReplyDeleteRemember that ethically and legally you need to use public domain or Creative Commons licensed photographs to enhance your blog (and any digital work) as well as give attribution. There are no credits for these photos and I'm guessing they are copyrighted - let me know if you need additional guidance on finding and attributing appropriate and legal photos.
Also, starting next blog post, please create and embed a web 2.0 digital tool from the list on the assignment, i.e., a comic strip, a presentation, etc - Have fun with it!